Ventilation of submarine boats.



No. 719,235. PATENTED JAN. 27, 1903- s. LAKE. VENTILATIONOP SUBMARINEBOATS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4, 1902. no MODEL.

No. 719,235. PATENTEDJAN. 27, 1903.

S.LAKE. I VENTILATION 0F SUBMARINE BoATs.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 4, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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SIMON LAKE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

VENTBLATEON OF SUBIVIARINE BOATS.

FEECIFJIiJAflTTtUlEl' forming; part of Letters Patent No. 719,235, datedJanuary 2'7, 1903.

Application filed March 4,1902. Serial No. 96,634. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that l, SIMON LAKE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlie-1d and State of Connecticut haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilation of SubmarineBoats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide means whereby a submarineboat may while running in seinisubmerged or nearly totally submergedcondition maintain a free circulationo'fatmospherio airwhilecontinuingto utilizeits surface motive power. This is adesideratum,especiallyinsubmarine torpedo-boats, for two 1'easons-iirst,because the motive power usually supplied from storage batteriesemployed for driving an electric motor when the boat is totallysubmerged is necessarily of limited quantity by reason of the smallstorage plant for which space is available in such class of boats,because of which it is very desirable that the resort to electricalpropulsion should be deferred as long as possible, and, second, becauseit is desirable .to reserve the air-supply carried by the usualair-receivers until actual necessity requires its use.

The invention consists, primarily, in the provision of a ventilatingtube or passage in direct communication with the interior of the boatand opening outwardly at some considerable distance above the same, soas to be unailected by the ordinary wash of the water over the deck orthat portion thereof adjacent to said tube or passage in moderatelyrough weather, combined with an outwardlyopening check-valve within saidtube or passage, a chamber permanently open in the upper portion only,being formed above and surrounding the mouth of said tube or passage toretain any water entering the same for the purpose of holding the valveclosed when pressed to its seat by the weight of the water. It alsoincludes certain other features to be hereinafter described.

Although the gasolene-engine commonly employed in such craft serves toinduce a circulation of air by drawing the air which it requires in itsoperation from the interior of the boat, which air is replaced by thatentering through the ventilating tube or passage provided therefor, itis evident that the ventilation of the boat may be effected by the useof a pump or blower or by any other suitable device for the purposes ofthe present invention or that the improvement may be utilized in thecharging of the compressed-air receivers or in any other operationrequiring the admission or discharge of air or gases, respectively, intoor from the interior of the boat.

The invention will be understoodby reference to the drawings annexed, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a portion ofthe hull and the superposed conning tower or turret of a submarine boatprovided with several forms of my improvement; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4:are sectional elevations, upon an enlarged scale, of the in spectiondome or chamber of the conningtower with its air-inlet valve, the valvedventilating-tube projecting above the hull, and the upper portion of thevalved engine exhaust-tube, respectively.

The hull A is provided with the conningtower B, having the usualdead-lights C and superposed inspection-dome D, with its deadlights Eand air-inlet tube a, having the conical valve-seat b and valve 0, ofwhich the stem cl is provided with a collar 6, between which and thelower closed end of the tube a is interposed the spiral spring f,maintaining the valve normally raised above its seat to admit a currentof atmospheric air, but the lower end portion of which stem isexternally threaded and carries a handwheel g, of which the hub isinternally threaded and fitted to said valve-stem d. It will be seenthat by screwing the hand-wheel upwardly upon the supportingvalve-stemits threaded hub will come into engagement with the bottom ofthe tube a, which forms a stop-shoulder for the same and enables it todraw the valve-stem and valve downwardly positively in opposition to thespring fduring the continued turning of the hand-wheel until the valveis firmly closed upon its seat. The rotation of the hand-wheel in thereverse direction obviously causes the release of the valve and permitsit to rise and remain normally open under the action of the spring f.

The outer end of the tube or passage a is closed by a plug or cap h,adjacent to which trance of water through the holes t' the weight of thewater will close the valve 0 in opposition to the spring f, the valvethereafter remaining closed under the weight of the superposed wateruntil it is manually opened under more favorable external conditions.

WVhile the lower end of the tube or might be made open with merely aspider therein for supporting the lower bearing and thrustshoulder forthe valve-stem and its handwheel, similar to that adjacent to thevalveseat 1), such expedient is objectionable for the reason that theinrush of air through such tube directed upon the head of the lookout orsteersman is found to be quite injurious to his physical health, and Itherefore provide the tube a with the lateral apertures 50 beneath thevalve-seat b and opening into a conduit formed between the inner wall ofthe inspection-dome D and the inner sheetmetal shield or deflector 75,of which the lower end 7c is turned outwardly to distribute theinfiowing air through the conning-tower, so as to avoid the productionof the objectionable draft referred to. While the form of shield ordeflector herein shown is considered preferable, it is evident that itsparticular form and precise location are not material, being capable ofconsiderable variation without substantially changing the effectivenessof this part of the improvement.

When the air-inlet of my improvement is employed in lieu of the usualventilator rising from the deck, the upper portion of the tube a may bereplaced, as indicated in Fig. 3, by the ordinary swinging hood or cowlZ, of which the upright portion forms the chamber or pocket above thevalve for retaining any water entering the same, and the lateral portionalso serves in lieu of the depending shieldj to prevent the entrance ofwater into the tube a, excepting under conditions of actual submergence,as before explained. \Vhen the boat is to be regularly submerged, thehood or cowl may be replaced by the cap 772. (Shown only in dotted linesin said figure.)

\Vhile the discharge or exhaust tube or pipe for the spent gases fromthe usual gasoleneengines commonly employed for the surface navigationof this class of vessels requires certain modifications of the air-inletdevices above described to adaptit for similar automatic operation whenperforming their normal function, it is evident that the requiredchanges are slight, as will be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 4, inwhich the ventilatingtube serving as the discharge or exhaust pipe ismade telescopic and formed with an upper portion a, provided with thevalve-seat b and outwardly-opening Valve 0, Whose stem (1 is providedwith the collar 6, having the counterbalance-spring f intermediate thelatter and the lower spider for guiding the valvestem and permitting thevalve to remain normally closed, or nearly so. Said tube ais alsoprovided with the plug or cap it, lateral apertures i, and overhangingshieldj. The lower stationary portion a is connected with the valvedexhaust-pipes n from the gasoleneengines near the bottom and is providedwith a pair of friction-rolls 0, housed within a suitable casing andadapted to bear upon the movable upper portions, entering the samethrough astuffing-box q, to raise and lower the same when operated bymeans of the crank a" through a pair of connectinggears s. The valvedupper end of the movable section CtlS thus adapted to be adjusted bymeans of the crank r to any height above the adjacent portion of theboat, limited substantially by that of the air-inlet upon theinspection-dome, according to the condition of submergence of the boat,and may be drawn down so as to seat the edge of the overhanging flangeor shieldj upon the packingt when the boat is to be totally submerged,under which condition the check-valve c is obviously rendered whollyinoperative. In case a small amount of water should be admitted byaccident by the valve 0 while the tube a is in operative position thismay be drawn off into a suitable receptacle by means of the petcock u inthe pipe o, connected with the lower end of the stationary section a, ofthe ventilating-pipe.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my presentimprovement is adapted to ventilating tubes or passages of submarineboats, whether employed as inlets or outlets for air or gases, and thatthe same is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, for which reasonit will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificconstructions herein shown and described.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis 1. In a submarine boat, the combination with a ventilating tube orpassage comm unicatin g with the interior of the latter and openingoutwardly above the same, of an outwardly-opening, spring-pressedcheck-valve in said tube or passage located below its outer end,'achamber permanently open in its upper portion being formed above theseat of said valve and adapted to retain water entering the same,whereby the weight of the water serves to press said valve to its seatand to automatically hold it closed.

2. In a submarine boat, the combination with a ventilating tube orpassage leading upwardly and outwardly from the interior thereof throughthe deck or upper wall of the same, of a valve-seat within said tube orpassage, a valve fitted to said seat and provided with a stem pressednormally upward by a spring to retain the valve in open position andhaving the inner portion thereof threaded, guides fitted to saidvalve-stem for maintaining said valve in axial relation to said seat,and a hand-wheel with threaded hub applied to the threaded portion ofsaid valvestem and adapted to seat said valve in opposition to itsspring.

3. In a submarine boat, the combination with a ventilating tube orpassage communieating with its interior and opening outwardly above thesame, of an outwardly-opening check-valve therein, and a deflector orbaffleplate for directing the inflowing air transversely of said tube orpassage along the adjacent inner wall of said boat.

SIMON LAKE.

Witnesses:

L. B. MILLER, HENRY J. MILLER.

